NEW BEDFORD — St. Kilian Church, a North End church founded by Irish immigrants and in recent years focused on ministry to the Latino and Mayan communities, will hold its final Mass on Sept. 13, according to its Facebook page.
It was the first church immigrant activist Adrian Ventura went to when he came to New Bedford, and it is where he baptized his child.
“It is sad,” said Ventura, executive director of the Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores or Community Workers’ Center.
“For Central Americans, it was our primary church,” he said in Spanish. “For us, it’s a well-established place.”
The news about the church, located at 306 Ashley Blvd., was made in a Facebook post on Friday. The parishioners were urged to worship at St. Anthony of Padua Church, a few blocks away on Acushnet Avenue, according to the post under the heading “End of a chapter and the beginning of another chapter.”
“Today Friday July 31 the St. Kilian Church had a parish council meeting with our Bishop who informed us that St. Kilian community will merge with St. Anthony of Padua Church as of Sunday September 20, 2015,” a post said.
Ventura said he has helped organize events at St. Anthony in the past, which has been welcoming.
“God will be with us wherever we go,” he said.
It is unclear what will happen to the St. Kilian structure, which first opened to the public in 1927. The parish was first formed in the North End in 1896, according to The Standard-Times archives.
Reached Tuesday afternoon at the church, the Rev. Juan Munez suggested calling the bishop’s office, adding “they don’t really have a final decision.”
“It is in a bad shape,” Munez said of the building.
Officials at the Fall River Diocese could not be reached Tuesday.
Helena Da Silva Hughes, executive director at the Immigrants’ Assistance Center said for the large population of Hispanics the church has been, “a safe haven.”
“It’s just sad,” she said. “It’s a huge population that is basically going to feel displaced.”
Da Silva Hughes said she had heard that the church needed repairs.
“From what I understand, it’s not lack of people going to the church, it’s the lack of repairs,” she said of the decision to merge.
